Mail-bag catcher



J. M. WILLIAMS AND V. E. SMITH. MAIL BAG cn'cnsa.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22. I919. 1,348,071.

2 suns-sugar I.

H l||1| I III I WITNESS;

INVENTORS. BY LZWZ.7V

A TTORNE Y.

Patented July 27, 1920.

.l. M. WILLIAMS AND V. E. SMITH.

MAIL BAG CATCHER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22. I919.

1 348,07 1 en d uly 27, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- WITNESS: 4 INVENTORS. BY @7724 W v 141'. mzz/ A TTORNEY.

UNITED. STATES.

PATENT OFFICE,

101m in. wiLLmMs AND vnmron E. SMITH, or HA LEM MONTANA.

' MAIL-BAG chroma.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented fl 217 I Application filed auust 22, 1919. Serial in. 319,178.

To all whom it may concern: 4

Be it knownthat we, JOHN M. \VILLIAM's and TERNON E. SMITH, residing atHar'lenn in the State of Montana, have invented new and usefulImprovements in MaiLBag Catchers, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates-to mailbag catchers adapted for use upon trainsfor catching bags of mail suspended at the sides of the track, while thetrain is in motion, and has for its object the provision ofa basketstructure pivota'll-y mounted within a inail car and swingabl'e' to bedisposed exteriorly thereof in position to engage and c'atch'a sack ofmail suspended at the side of atrack, this basket structi'ire havingconnected therewith a catch for holding" it inbag catching position andfurthermore having connected" therewith a spring whereby'upon: releaseof the catch the basket will be swung into the car.

An important 'objeetis the provision of adevice of this character inwhich the basket member is det'achably' mounted upon the car so that-itmaybe'removed andused upon difierent cars. g I 7 Another object is theprovision of a device of this character inwhich'the bag catching basketis provided at its'upper andlower ends with knives adapted to severcords by means of which" the mail bag issuspended.

An additional object is the provision of a device of this-characterwhich will be com paratively simple and inexpensive in manufacture andinstallation, highly efhci'ent in use in being quick in action, whi'chwill not tear or otherwise damagexthe' mail sacks,

which will be durahle in service, and ag'ene eral improvement in theart. i y

' ith the above and other. objects and advantages; in view, theinvention consists in the details of construction to bef hereinaftermore fully described andclaimed, and illustrated in theaccompanyi'ngdrawings in which- Figure 1" is a fragmentary side elevation showingicheoutside of mail car and showing our device extended or swungontwardlyinto o 'erativeposition, V

Fig. 2 's a side elevation showing the inside of'the car with the basketswung inwardly,

3 -i's a verticalcross seetitnaivi w on the line 3:3 of Fig.1;shpwingtne front of the basket member.

Fig. 45 is a horizontal sectional view onth'e line 4 4; of Fig. 1,showing the basket in toppla-n -i Fig. 5'is a horizontal-sectional viewon the line 55' of Fig. 2, the line of section being taken through thebasket member nd The remaining figures (7 and 8') are detail views ofthe mounting of the shaft carrying the basket member.

Referring more particularly to the drawing's, the letter-A designatesthe side of a mail car. In'car'ryin'g out our invention we providea-bearing member 10 which is secured upon theunderside of the. roof ofthe car on' the inside thereof and which includes downwardly extendingtubular portion 11 which may, in practice, be a section ofpi-ping.Secured upon the 'iioor' of the car in vertical 'alinement with thebearing member 10' is a bearing member 12'inc 1'uding an upstandingtubular portion-13 iv hich bases" vertically disposed front bars 20which are spaced apart and which provide the en trance openingtothebasket. The frame 1 8% is so shaped that the forward edge of the bottomis considerably higher at the rear edge thereof whereby to .provide'a'pocket which will retain the mail bag; in pos'ition after it iscaught.At the top of the basket member are providedlfran'ie bars 21 whichconverge rearwardly and upon which are secured knife bliL'ClGS'QZ which.are inclined with respect to; each other and which prefer? ably haveserrated'ed'ges. At the'lower'. forward edge of. the basket meinbe'r'i'sprovided a knife'blade 23 which is angularlydisposed and which also haspr'eierably a" serrated edge. The 'blades 22' and 23 are so arrangedwith respect to each other' 'that the lower blade 23' will bein' advanceof and cut in advance of the. upper blacle's 22, The purpose of this.constrjiction will. be hereinafter made apparent. Connected-to orformed upon one of the fi'ontb'ar's 20 of the frame 18 are laterallyextending arms 24- which are secured to a vertical shaft journaledwithin tubular portions 11 and 13 of the bearing members. This shaft 25is inserted within the bearingfmembers by insertinglts 7 upper endwithin the tubular portion 11 of away portion 14:, but revoluble so thatthe with the cutaway portion. 1

slot 27 may be moved "out of registration A spring 28 is provided andhas one end detachably connected with an eye bolt- 29 secured upon theinside of the car and its other end connected with one of the frame bars20. The tendency of this springis to swing; the basket member into thecar. qWe further providea catch member 30 pivoted upon the edge of thedoorway of the car and. engageable with'one of the arms 24 for holdingthe basket member in adjusted position ex'teriorly of the car. I V

In the use of the device, a sack of mail to be cau ht is suspended fromthe usual hanger, theuonly diiferencebeing thatit is suspended by meansof cords at each-end of the sack instead ofby the ordinaryhook. The sackbeing thus suspended, when it is desired to catch the same, theoperator'stationed within the mail car swings the basket memberso thatit will he disposed'outside of the car andrengages the catch 30 uponztheassociated arm 24. The basket member will thus be held in position.During the travel of the train, when the basket member reaches the mailsack the knives 22 at the top of the basket member and the knife 23 atthe bottom, thereof will sever the cords which suspend the sack, thecord holding the bottom of the sack being severed in ad-.

vance of the cord holding the top of the sack. fThe sack will thenbedisposed within the backet member and will be effectually retainedtherein by virtue of the fact that theforward lower end i of, the basketis higher than the rear lower edge. The oper ator then disengages thecatch 30 from the associated arm 24, whereupon thespring 28 will swingthe basket member intothe car,

after which the sack of mail is of course removed from thebasket member.a.

When it is desired'to remove the basket member from one car to another,it is merely necessarythat the operator grasp the sleeve from the uppertubular portion ing the shaft downwardly.

therein may be disengaged from the lower tubular bearing portion 13 bylateral movement, subsequent to which theshaft' is disengaged 11 by mov-Vhilewe have shown and described the preferredembodiment of ourinvention, it is of course to be understood that we reserve the right tomake such changes in the form, construction, and arrangement of parts-aswill not depart from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of thesubjoined claims. 7 V I Having thus described our inventiomwe claim l VV r I 1. A mail bag catcher comprisinga bearing member secured at theupper portion of a car upon the interior thereof, a; second, bearingmember disposed at the lower portion of the car verticallybeneath saidfirst named'bearing member and including an upstanding tubulanportionprovided with a cut out portion, a basket structure, a shaft carryingsaid basket structure and disposable within' said bearing members andadapted for rotation whereby to dispose said basket interiorly orexteriorly of the car, and a ,sleeve journaled upon said tubular portionand provided with ,a' slot adapted to register'with the cut awayportion-insaidv tubular portion whereby to permit inser-- tion orremoval'of 'thejlower end of said shaft. 7

2. A device of. thexcharacter described comprising bearing memberssecured upon the interior of a mail car-in spaced vertical relation, ashaft detachably j ournaled within said bearing members, a basketstructure secured to said shaft and including .a rectangular framecovered withrwire screen, said basket structure being swingable to bedisposed either exteriorly or interiorly of the car, a spring connectedwith the car and the frame of the basket memberi whereby to hold thesame normally interiorly of. the car, and acatch pivoted upon the carand engaging one element of said'frame for holding the basket structureexteriorly of the car. l

3. A device ofi'the character described comprising bearingmemberssecured upon the inside of amailcar in vertical spaced relation,a shaftjournaledflwithin said bearing members, a basketstructure"including arms secured to said shaft, a substantiallyrectangular frame-work secured to 7 said arms and covered withw1re-mesh,,and knife bladesat the top and bottom of said basket memberadapted to sever cords between which a mail bag is suspended 4s A deviceof the character described comprising a vertically disposed shaftournaledinteriorly of, a car,' a basket structure comprising. asubstantially rectangular frame including spaced front bars forming theentrance opening to the basket structure, arms extending from one ofsaid bars and secured to said shaft, rearwardly converging bars at thetop of said basket structure, knife blades secured to said last namedbars, a knife blade secured at the lower forward edge of said basketstructure, and wire mesh covering said frame.

5. A device of the character described comprising bearing memberssecured upon the inside of a mail car in spaced Vertical relation, ashaft journaled Within said bearing members, a basket structure securedupon said shaft and including a substantially rectangular frame coveredwith wire mesh, and cutting members at the top and bottom of said basketmember adapted to sever cords between which a mail bag is suspended, thevWire mesh forming the bottom of the basket structure and extendingdownwardly beyond the frame whereby to define a pocket.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

J. M. WILLIAMS. V. E. SMITH

